


Liquify

by jenna_thorn



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-13
Updated: 2010-09-13
Packaged: 2017-10-11 18:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/115627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenna_thorn/pseuds/jenna_thorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Demerol is commonly given post-op and has a side effect of what my doctor termed "strange dreams." My reaction was more along the lines of Rodney's. *shudder*</p></blockquote>





	Liquify

He'd heard the term swimming toward consciousness but he'd never realized that's what it felt like, the walls of the medical lab wavering, as though through water, the air heavy but cool against his skin and Beckett's voice muffled, caught by refractions and raindrops that he could see if only he could turn his head.

" … I'm sure there is, but I've not found it, and quite honestly, our resources and exploration have been devoted more toward power sources and weapons research than the medical facilities. I've discovered a few things, tools mostly, by trial and error, but nothing on this scale."

"Then what can we do?"

"I've sedated all three of them, and am feeding painkillers intravenously, but you have to understand, Major, burns are…" and air like water closed back over his head.

He dreamed of fireworks then, of merry bursts of color and sound over a park that he remembered from his childhood dreams, though he'd never seen it with waking eyes, until the splashes of light became arcing blue and orange electric sparks and sharp-edged bursts of muzzle-flash and the tinny childish laughter from the carousel deepened to screams from hoarse throats and he saw himself in their shared reaching for Simpson, saw McKay from the other side moving slowly, too slowly, and the console exploded between them throwing their jury-rigged power cords and entwined jumper cables to twist in the space around them like a space-age Medusa shaking out her hair, viper-tresses spitting power for venom.

Atlantis herself responded, scattering rose-tinted foam and spit-slick gel over the lab. They'd be cleaning for days once he recovered. Once they recovered.

"…hadn't realized it was so extreme."

"The actual damage isn't. The lab has some sort of fire-system that kicked in damn near immediately. But Rodney actually uses his passwords and Zelenka's notes aren't in English and Simpson's last backup dump to the shared server was something like three weeks ago. We've pretty much closed and locked the door until someone can tell us what went wrong. Beckett, we need them."

"You can't have them. Simpson bore the brunt of it, but neither Zelenka nor McKay are …. " he trailed off, leaving Radek intensely curious. "I may have found …"

He woke again to the half lighting they'd been used for unoccupied rooms. The silence was a relief and the plastic tether had disappeared sometime in the time he'd been out. He lifted one hand but saw no damage, only his hand in the air, silver-blue water, healthy and clean, the shape of the door a shimmer through his translucent skin. Clearly there was no reason to stay in the infirmary and he slid off, the sterile sheets rough against his skin of mercury, his feet leaving the barest trace of liquid to mark his path as he moved to stand over Simpson, white cloth wrapped tight over red heat unable to contain the energy from within as an alabaster vase doesn't hide a candle within so much as diffuse its glow. He could see McKay in the next bed, a too rapid heartbeat coloring even the wall beside him, shifting patterns of orange spiked with red, quivering with jagged edges. Enforced rest would do McKay a world of good, Radek thought as he pressed his hands against the door and convinced it to open. He moved through the halls of the city, unseen as always, a shadow in the back, observing. He saw Kavanagh from a distance, cool blue and seamless, self-contained as ever and veered to avoid him automatically. Lt. Ford left bits of himself all over the place, splashes of purple and red, tinting everyone around him cheerfully as he clasped hands and slapped backs and smiled at everyone around him, There were a few he couldn't name, couldn't recognize, their faces and voices obscured by themselves, one a rainbow shimmer in a military uniform, joyous in silence, refracting prismatic shadows around him, leaving sparkling rainbow dragonflies in his wake. His neighbors didn't notice them, but Radek watched, enraptured, until distracted by a familiar voice, following at a polite distance, a respectful space until he could not resist, had to touch, to taste, irresistibly drawn to Weir and she opened herself, golden and warm, caressing at the molecular level. A slip-slide of fluid, a dance of raindrops into a pond, Radek coiled around and within, caressing and caressed, his silver mingling within the golden glow of her, a sound like honey under his tongue, a tone like crystal singing or a church bell calling him home. But she wouldn't leave her office, her back to the Gate yet ever-conscious of its presence, and he left, ruefully, to see the world with his wet new eyes.

When he'd first realized that the world was based on immutable mathematical laws, he'd had a feeling of falling inward, of seeing the cubes and connections of the world itself, a cat's cradle of physics. It had been indescribably beautiful, and he'd only been able to capture an echo of that first heady rush by staring into space until he fell into the stars and had to clutch the grass to remind himself of gravity. This was much like that, seeing, feeling, knowing the swirl of the sea around them, the reverberations of the far off mainland, the swells around the pilings of the city, the stretch and flow of the world itself and he cascaded in a waterfall over the dock edge to join the world soul in joy.

Then Rodney screamed.

Radek opened his eyes to a clatter and flurry as Beckett caught the iv drip before it hit the floor. Major Sheppard was holding McKay to the bed and Weir stood motionless, her wide eyes belying her apparent calm. Radek found himself startled to be where he'd began, tied once more to a sterile bed by plastic tubing and needles, the lights in the medical bay too bright, McKay's voice hoarse. Beckett's brogue was incomprehensible at speed. He'd become more used to Rodney, to tuning out the various asides and hearing only what was needed, so he caught important phrases and ignored the noisy ellipses between them until he could speed up to their timing, like a film run through a projector, and parse the words into meaning.

"Nightmares."

"The drug I gave you does have a side effect of unusual dreams."

"That wasn't a dream; it was a nightmare and "unusual" covers it about as well as a Speedo covers a Yank tourist. Ask Zelenka. Radek," Rodney's voice was shrill. "Did you dream?"

"Oh yes."

"Ghastly."

"No, not really."

"We are not doing that again."

"I don't think you'll need to."

"Good. Wait. Why not?"

"I think Atlantis can help you."

Sheppard broke in, "We don't know that it's safe."

"Carson, is it safe?" Weir asked.

"This is Atlantis," Beckett said.

"That doesn't answer the question, doctor."

"It's the only answer I can give. It's not as though we can read the bloody instruction manual. Cadman thinks…"

"Cadman thinks? We are all doomed."

"Rodney shush. Carson, what does Cadman think?"

"We've determined maximum…"

"Did she just shush me?"

"…Maximum time limits. Or perhaps temperature…"

"I've been shushed!"

Sheppard, in a completely neutral voice, asked, "Rodney, do you want to be unconscious again?"

"I don't particularly want any more of those painkillers, no."

"I was just going to coldcock you."

"Ha ha, very funny. You wouldn't?"

"Dr. Weir, it's what we have. Maintaining the status quo isn't … isn't an option." Beckett's voice dropped. Radek wondered just how badly they'd been injured. Beckett's behavior worried him. Not being able to feel anything below his chest worried him. Perhaps he could have McKay's share of the painkiller.

"It's unproven," McKay squealed.

"Rodney, you are our uncontested expert on the 'Gate, but you are not our best linguist."

"I'm a cunning…"

"If you finish that sentence, I will let Sheppard knock you unconscious."

Sheppard looked up and said, "I didn't think you were paying attention ... Mom." Radek watched the Major smile at his most charming and Weir simply narrowed her eyes at him in silence.

Weir turned to Radek, patting the thin blanket over him. He couldn't feel her hand, his feet, the blanket. She said, "Simpson's still unconscious; it's got to be one of you for a test run."

He held the memory of a honey-scented chime and said, "Then I shall volunteer," and allowed himself to pretend that her sad smile was for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Demerol is commonly given post-op and has a side effect of what my doctor termed "strange dreams." My reaction was more along the lines of Rodney's. *shudder*


End file.
